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Beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Be an Educated Consumer All Year Long
by Lauren Lampasone, Digital ExperienceNovember 28, 2011

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday have entered our lexicon as the first days of the traditional holiday shopping season, marked by door-busters and free shipping for online purchases. The deals come fast and furious, almost keeping pace with our ever-expanding shopping lists...

Why not give yourself a gift you can enjoy when reviewing your bank and credit card statements in January 2012? The gift of consumer-savvy! The library can help.

Ratings and Reports

Consumer Reports is known for their fair, unbiased ratings and testing of a wide range of consumer products.

The Consumerist is a frequently updated blog that provides daily deals as well as warning alarms about the latest bad deals or scams. It also encourages readers to submit their stories of scams, ripoffs, or how they did or didn't get help from customer service after having a problem with a product.

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports and parent company of The Consumerist, is "an independent, nonprofit testing and information organization which provides unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health and nutrition, and other consumer concerns."

SizeEasy is a tool that lets you compare the sizes of different items by entering their dimensions. Great for visualizing before you buy online.

Consumer Data

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) provides information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics.